Customer Reviews
Disappointing, stick to Sharpe and Aubrey! - By: neil_o, 07 Jan 2009 
I read a lot of historical fiction - Cornwell, O'Brian, Iggulden etc...
I read Brethrenin the hope that Robyn Young might turn out to be the new big thingin the genre. I was disappointed. The book (and the 2 sequels) are over long & frankly dull. There are far too many characters that come & go, without leaving any impact on the story or the major characters. A good editor could have removed pages & pages of text & sub-plots without harming the main story. Young has tried to mix facts about Beybers (who deserves a series of books by himself) & the Templars, with a Da Vichi Code plot element mixed in. It is too much & none of the elements sit well together. The characters are not engaging, & I didn't really care one way or the other what happened to them (or to the lost book). Although I'm sure the books are well researched & the facts about the day to day lives of the Templars are correct, I didn't feel as if Young understood the mindset of the charactersin that time/place. They felt like 21st century charactersin a 13th century environment. This was an opportunity lost to make a great series of books about an interesting historical period.
Exciting and well written - By: John Meanwood, 21 Dec 2008 
I originally bought 'Crusade' from a discount bookshop as I had not realised that it was volume two of the series, so had to purchase this & the third volume 'Reqiem' from Amazonin order to read all three booksin order.
This first volume is very exciting, although it is not as violent & graphic as it would be had it been written by a man. The main characters are easy to like & yet the enemies are also easy to respect & admirein their own way.
A good first novel & well written.
Fascinating book - By: chuckles, 22 Oct 2008 I am a big historical fiction fan so was keen to try a new author. This book felt quite heavy at first with a lot of detail, & at nearly 700 pages it's a long book. However this level of detail is what sets it apart from other books, with a huge amount of research into the period & characters that you can understand all their emotions & reactions. In the end the 700 pages flew by, & gripped me all the way through. Excellent book & new author for my bookshelf. Looking forward to the nextin series
Brethren is brilliant! - By: Mr. T. C. Smith, 03 Aug 2008 Read this one. Read the 2nd of the trilogy Crusade.Can't wait for the 3rd Requiem..
Extremely disappointing - By: Mr. R. Morgan, 09 Jul 2008 Forget all the comments re "good use of English" & "excellent first book" - The plot is dire. To have knights who have trainedin the manly arts for many years & then burstin to tears at the drop of a hat, suggests that the writer has been overcome by political correctness, & expects men of this era to bein touch with their feminine side. Absolute drivel, it took me a month to read - & this from someone who normally reads two books a week. Need I say more.
